Proverbs 15:7

The lips of the wise spread ¹  knowledge, but not so the heart of fools. ² 

Ps 37:30; Ps 45:2; Ps 51:13-15; Ps 71:15-18; Ps 78:2-6; Ps 119:13; Pr 10:20,21; Ec 12:9,10; So 4:11; Mt 10:27; Mt 12:34; Mt 28:18-20; Mr 16:15; Ac 18:9,10; Ro 10:14-17; Ro 15:18-21; Eph 4:29; 2Ti 2:2; Jas 3:6

¹ tc The verb of the first colon is difficult because it does not fit the second very well – a heart does not “scatter” or “spread” knowledge. On the basis of the LXX, C. H. Toy (Proverbs [ICC], 305) suggests a change to יִצְּרוּ (yitsÿru, “they preserve”). The Greek evidence, however, is not strong. For the second line the LXX has “hearts of fools are not safe,” apparently taking לֹא־כֵן (lo’-khen) as “unstable” instead of “not so.” So it seems futile to use the Greek version to modify the first colon to make a better parallel, when the Greek has such a different reading in the second colon anyway.

² sn The phrase “the heart of fools” emphasizes that fools do not comprehend knowledge. Cf. NCV “there is no knowledge in the thoughts of fools.”